Method and apparatus for obtaining images of merchandise as arranged by a customer

ABSTRACT

Generic information provided by printed and online catalogs may be supplemented or replaced by information that is customized for or related to the consumer, enabling a third party to more fully understand the purchase decision and thus offer more informed feedback. A party accessing a merchant system may be provided electronic access to consumer-customized nonverbal information by, e.g., collecting an electronic version of consumer-customized nonverbal information at a merchant site, and displaying the electronic version of the consumer-customized nonverbal information for a party accessing the merchant system.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of and claims priority under 35U.S.C. §120 to U.S. application Ser. No. 09/727,593 filed Dec. 4, 2000and now U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,306, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/168,394 filed Dec. 2,1999, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to providing electronic access toconsumer-customized nonverbal information regarding products andservices, and may also relate to enabling collaborative shopping forproducts and services using a broadband medium such as the Internet.

BACKGROUND

Before purchasing merchandise, it is sometimes desirable and/ornecessary for a consumer visiting a merchant to obtain feedback orapproval from a third party remote to that merchant. Often, in seekingthis feedback and/or approval, it is desirable to supplement a verbaldescription of the merchandise with non-verbal information thatdescribes the product as it relates to the consumer. For instance, whenshopping for clothing, a visual image significantly enhances a thirdparty's understanding of the clothing and the appearance of the clothingwhen worn by the consumer (e.g., fit).

Conventionally, catalogs have been used to provide generic informationfor products and services offered by merchants. In a similar vain,merchant web sites recently have been used to store and reproduce onlinecatalogs consisting of generic product descriptions for personsaccessing the Internet. While helpful in gaining a general understandingof the products and services offered by a merchant, these catalogs donot relate products and services to any particular consumer, verbally orvisually. Rather, they relate the products and services of a merchant tomodels and staged sets that leave the consumer to wonder how well theproduct or service will satisfy their needs.

For a third party to obtain nonverbal information that relates thesought-after product or service to the consumer, the third party mustresort to other means. For instance, in the clothing example providedabove, for a third party to obtain non-verbal information that relatesthe clothing to a consumer seeking their feedback and/or approval, thethird party has generally had to accompany the consumer to the merchantand observe the consumer being fit with the clothing.

SUMMARY

Rather than requiring third parties to personally visit the merchant,real time or stored nonverbal information that conforms to consumerspecifications is collected by a merchant and made electronicallyavailable to third parties remote to the merchant. Wired or wirelessnetworking systems enable electronic communications between merchant andthird party systems.

In this manner, the generic information provided by printed and onlinecatalogs may be supplemented or replaced by information that iscustomized for or related to the consumer, enabling a third party tomore fully understand the purchase decision and thus offer more informedfeedback.

These concepts find particularly utility for merchants offering goodsand services whose sale is premised on visual appearances. They may beused to reduce cycle time, increase market reach, enhance productexposure, and elevate the consumer excitement level to increase thelikelihood of ultimate purchase. They also are used to establish anenduing record of transactions to enable future comparisons.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features andadvantages will become apparent from the description and drawings, andfrom the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a system capable of providingconsumer-customized nonverbal information to a party accessing amerchant system;

FIG. 1A shows an example of components within the remote user and/ormerchant computer systems of FIG. 1;

FIG. 1B shows an example of the merchant computer system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 shows an example overview of a process for providingconsumer-customized nonverbal information to a party accessing amerchant system from the perspective of a consumer;

FIG. 3 shows an example overview of a process for providingconsumer-customized nonverbal information to a party accessing amerchant system from the perspective of a merchant;

FIG. 3A shows a sample record relating consumer-customized nonverbalinformation to identifying information and/or notes;

FIG. 3B shows an example of a process for enabling access toconsumer-customized nonverbal information; and

FIG. 3C shows an example of screen used to display consumer-customizednonverbal information.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a system 100 capable of providingconsumer-customized nonverbal information generally includes inputequipment 110, merchant computer system 120, remote user computer system130, and network 140.

Input equipment 110 and merchant computer system 120 collectively gathermerchandise information and make that information available to partiesaccessing the merchant computer system 120. The merchandise informationmay include consumer-customized nonverbal information, e.g., nonverbalinformation describing merchandise arranged or configured as specifiedby the consumer. In one particular example, the consumer-customizednonverbal information includes clothing being modeled by the consumer orby some other person of the consumer's choosing. In another particularexample, the consumer-customized nonverbal information includes tools orequipment arranged as specified by the consumer to demonstrate theirutility or adaptability.

Input equipment 110 and merchant computer system 120 may be operatedindependently in which case information collected by input equipment 110is merely communicated to merchant computer system 120. Alternatively,input equipment 110 may be operated in conjunction with merchantcomputer system 120 to collect and communicate input from the consumerin response to requests received from merchant computer system 120.

More specifically, input equipment 110 generally includes equipmentcapable of collecting audio, video and other input from a consumer(hereinafter “primary consumer”). Input equipment 110 may include videoor still camera equipment of digital type, but alternatively may includevideo or still camera equipment of the analog type accompanied with adigitizing device such as a digital scanner. In any case, the cameraequipment is generally capable of collecting full or partial lengthimages and of manipulating collected images. Input equipment 110 mayalso include other standard input/output devices, such as, e.g., amicrophone, and interfacing equipment. Where a video camera ormicrophone is used, a continuous stream of data may be communicated byinput equipment 110 to merchant computer system 120.

Merchant computer system 120 generally includes devices capable ofsoliciting, collecting and providing access to nonverbalconsumer-customized information, consumer identification information andother related information (hereinafter “notes”), from input equipment110 or otherwise. Examples of identification information includeconsumer name, billing and shipping addresses, telephone numbers,electronic mail (e-mail) address and passwords of at least the primaryconsumer, and examples of notes include image or merchandisedescription, merchandise price, and consumer comments. Merchant computersystem 120 generally includes a personal computer, but may include anintranet with several interconnected intelligent or dumb workstationterminals having simultaneous or shared access to a central ordistributed repository of data. In any case, merchant computer system120 includes a modem (e.g., standard, cable, digital subscriber line(DSL)) or other communication device to enable communications overnetwork 140.

Remote user computer system 130 generally includes interfacing equipmentcapable of enabling access to network 140 and thus merchant computersystem 120, one or more output devices capable of enabling an operatorof remote user computer system 130 (hereinafter “secondary consumer”) toperceive information, and input devices capable of communicatingfeedback from the secondary consumer to the primary consumer or merchantcomputer systems. Remote user computer system 130 generally includes apersonal computer, an example of which will be described with respect toFIG. 1A. Remote user computer system 130 may also include a wired orwireless information device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA)or web-enabled telephone.

Network 140 enables electronic communications between merchant computersystem 120 and remote user computer systems 130. Network 140 may bewired or wireless. It 120 generally includes a computer network, e.g., awide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or local area network(LAN). Network 140 may also or alternatively include other networks suchas the plain old telephone system (POTS) network. Through network 140,one or more remote user computer systems 130 may gain access toinformation within the merchant computer system 120, and may communicatefeedback to the consumer or merchant computer system 120.

Although not shown, a second network and corresponding interfacingequipment may be used to enable the primary consumer or merchant tonotify the secondary consumer of information to be accessed at themerchant computer system 120. For instance, a plain old telephone system(POTS) may be used to enable the primary consumer and/or merchant torequest feedback from a secondary consumer, or to notify the secondaryconsumer of consumer-customized nonverbal information that is availablefor downloading or streaming. In another example, merchant computersystem 120 may include equipment or software (e.g., automated telephoneequipment, instant messaging software, and/or email software) to enableautomatic or manual notification. Correspondingly, remote user computersystem 130 may include equipment or software to enable perception of thenotification, delayed or immediate feedback to the notification, delayedor immediate access to the referenced information, and feedbackregarding that referenced information.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a computer system 160 represents an example of ahardware setup for executing software that allows a user to performtasks such as communicating with other computer users, accessing variouscomputer resources, and viewing, creating, or otherwise manipulatingelectronic content—that is, any combination of text, images, movies,music or other sounds, animations, 3D virtual worlds, and links to otherobjects. The computer system 160 of FIG. 1A may also be programmed withcomputer-readable instructions to enable content to be perceived (e.g.,viewed) without being captured (e.g., copied, saved, or printed).

The system 160 includes various input/output (I/O) devices 161 and ageneral purpose computer 162. I/O devices 161 may include mouse 161A,keyboard 161B, and display 161C, as shown, and may also or alternativelyinclude other devices such as touch screens, video cameras, microphones,scanners, printers, wired or wireless devices (e.g., cellular telephone,personal digital assistant (PDA) or appliance). General purpose computer162 may include central processor unit (CPU) 162A, I/O unit 162B andmemory 162C that stores data and various programs such as operatingsystem 162C-1 and one or more application programs 16C-2. The computersystem 160 preferably also includes some sort of communications card ordevice 163 (for example, a modem or network adapter) for exchanging datawith network 164 via communications link 165 (e.g., a telephone line).

Referring to FIG. 1B, a combination of more than one computer system maybe used to implement merchant computer system 120. For instance,merchant computer system 120 may include computer 122 and computer 124.Computers 122 and 124 may by physically independent, communicating byphysical communications link 126, and requiring implementation onindependent devices. Conversely, computers 122 and 124 may sharedevices, such that their independence is virtual and the communicationslink 126 interconnecting those computers is implemented throughsoftware. Either or both of computers 122 and 124 may be implementedusing devices such as those shown by FIG. 1A.

Computer 122 is generally a merchant host computer, providing aninterface for remote users 130 to perceive when communications areenabled through network 140. For instance, computer 122 may includesoftware or links to software enabling web page access and/or searchfunctionality. More specifically, computer 122 may store or access anddisplay a screen that includes an embedded link to a search programcapable of searching and retrieving information from within computer124. The screen may result from code written in any of variouslanguages, such as hypertext markup language (HTML), standard generatedmarkup language (SGML), extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML),extensible markup language (XML), or otherwise.

Computer 124 generally includes software for generating, storing andaccessing records relating consumer-customized nonverbal information toconsumer identifying information and notes. The software stored oncomputer 124 typically includes a relational database that storesrecords including related consumer-customized nonverbal information,identifying information for the primary consumer, and notes. Software128 also may be used to control input equipment 110 and/or to integrateidentifying information and notes entered at computer 124 with inputreceived from input equipment 110. One example of the aforementionedsoftware includes the Filemaker™ program equipped with a Troy™ plug-inmodule. Using this software, computer 124 can be used to control inputequipment 110, to collect information from the primary consumerregarding images and other information collected by input equipment 110,to create records combining the related information to be stored and/orstreamed, and to collect feedback from the secondary consumer whenreceived.

Additional integrating software may also be incorporated into computer124 to automate the notification process based on information collectedfrom the primary consumer regarding the secondary consumer. Forinstance, if instant messaging or electronic mail software is installedon or accessible to computer 124, computer 124 may be configured toautomatically send an instant message or email to the secondary consumerwhen an instant messaging or email address for the secondary consumer isentered by the primary consumer. As such, the identifying informationcollected from the primary consumer and related to the record or datastream may include identifying information for the secondary consumer,such as an instant messaging address, email address and/or telephonenumber. The instant message or email may be sent immediately upon entryof the address for the secondary consumer, or it may be sent at somelater time as instructed by the primary consumer.

Similar software may also be stored on computer 124 to enablenotification of feedback from secondary consumer to the primary consumerand/or merchant. In this manner, the primary consumer may make a promptpurchasing decision once feedback is received, or the merchant mayexpedite processing of an order once authorization is received from thesecondary consumer. For instance, where the primary consumer providesstanding instructions indicating that the purchase may be completed uponauthorization or approval of the secondary consumer, processing of thepurchase may be expedited through communication of that authorization orapproval to the merchant. In this case, the request for feedback mayinclude a request for payment information from the secondary consumer toenable a purchase.

Implementing merchant computer system 120 using more than one computer,whether physical or virtual, allows the merchant the flexibility toinhibit access to the consumer-customized nonverbal data withoutinhibiting access to the merchant web page, thus enhancing security andflexibility.

Referring to FIG. 2, an exemplary process 200 perceived and performed byconsumers includes several general steps. After the primary consumerselects merchandise of interest (step 210), the merchandise is arrangedand/or configured according to primary consumer specification (step230), and still or video images are obtained of the consumer-customizedarrangement or configuration of merchandise (step 240). For instance,where a consumer is shopping for clothing, the clothing that is selected(step 210) may be modeled by the consumer or another consumer-selectedindividual (step 230), and an image of the clothing being modeled may beobtained by the merchant (step 240).

The primary consumer or merchant may attempt to contact the secondaryconsumer at various times throughout this process. For instance, asshown by step 220, an attempt may be made before the merchandise isconfigured according to consumer specification (step 230) and beforeconsumer-customized nonverbal information is collected (step 240),allowing the secondary consumer to receive streaming of informationsubstantially in real-time. However, an attempt also may be made aftereither of steps 230 and 240 to enable viewing of stored images or datastreams. In any case, to make such an attempt, a standard or cellulartelephone, instant messaging, email or some other means may be used.

Once a digital image or stream of the consumer-customized arrangement orconfiguration of merchandise has been obtained, the secondary consumermay perceive the image or stream (step 250), and may provide feedbackgenerally in the form of comments and/or authorization (step 260).Authorization may include payment information, particularly where thesecondary consumer is relied upon for purchasing decisions.

Finally, the feedback is registered and/or communicated to the primaryconsumer and/or merchant. Thereafter, the purchase may be automaticallyenabled/refused, or the primary consumer may take additional steps toenable/refuse the purchase, e.g., with reference to registered feedback.

Referring to FIG. 3, an exemplary process 300 perceived and performed bythe merchant includes several general steps. Images and otherinformation are received from input equipment 110, and relatedidentifying information and notes are received from the primary consumer(step 310). Where the images are obtained for future access, recordsthat relate the received images to identifying information and/or notesmay be created and stored (step 320). Similarly, where a stream ofimages are obtained for future access, one or more records that relatethe images within the stream to identifying information and/or notes maybe created and stored (step 330). FIG. 3A illustrates a sample recordreflecting the relationship established between images and identifyinginformation and notes.

However, where real-time access and viewing of the image, images or datastream is desired, it may be unnecessary to store the record andimage(s) or data stream. In this instance, the identifying informationmay be stored merely to enable remotely-located secondary consumers tolocate the image(s) or data stream for streaming, thus saving storagespace.

Once records and/or data streams have been created based on the imagesand identifying information and/or notes, access is enabled for remotesecondary consumers to the record or data stream, and thus theconsumer-customized nonverbal information (step 340). For instance,referring to FIG. 3B, merchant computer system 120 enables secondaryconsumers access to stored records or data streams through an interfaceto, e.g., computer 322 of merchant computer system 120 (step 341).Identifying information or search criteria from the secondary consumeris then received, and a search is performed to identify a desired recordor data stream using, e.g., an HTML page specified by searching softwareprovided or accessed by computer 324 of merchant computer system 120(step 342). Based on the search criteria, a search of available recordsand/or data streams is performed to return search results. When morethan one record or data stream matches the received identifyinginformation or search criteria (step 343), merchant computer system 120prompts secondary consumer for additional information or selection amongthe identified records or data streams, and receives this selectioninformation or further search criteria to repeat steps 342 and 343 (step344). When a record or data stream is ultimately identified by thesecondary consumer, an authentication process may be performed to ensurethat the primary consumer desires to enable access to this particularsecondary consumer. For instance, a password or other information may becollected from the secondary consumer and compared with informationspecified by the primary consumer. In this manner, different levels ofsecurity may be enabled to provide different secondary consumers withaccess to different images. Ultimately, for secondary consumers that areauthenticated, records or data streams identified are displayed orstreamed, e.g., in the format shown by FIG. 3C.

Based on the information accessed, feedback from the secondary consumeris received (350), communicated to the consumer, stored and/or used toauthorize or disallow purchase of the merchandise (step 360).

The systems and processes described above have particular utility inretail applications, where consumers sometimes prefer to compare thegoods of one retail operation to the goods of another retail operation,and where enabling comparison of consumer-customized arrangements orconfigurations may be preferred. For instance, apparel, jewelry andother accessories are each items that consumers like to see customizedto their choosing, e.g., by trying them on, before purchasing. Thesystems and processes may also find particular utility when used todisplay images or data streams to demonstrate services available to meetconsumer specifications. Furthermore, these systems and processes areuseful where primary consumers seek feedback or are required to obtainauthorization or payment approval for purchases from secondaryconsumers, e.g., in a guardian-minor and employer-employeerelationships.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. For example,although the terms primary and secondary consumer are used in the abovedescription, they may be the same entity and either may be anon-consumer. More specifically, the secondary consumer may not be aconsumer at all; they may instead be a third party to the transaction,merely providing feedback to the first consumer. Similarly, the primaryconsumer may be a third party to a transaction between the secondaryconsumer and the merchant, the primary consumer merely choosing itemsfor review by the secondary consumer. Furthermore, the primary andsecondary consumer may be the same entity. Still further, although theconsumer-customized nonverbal information is described as being viewedfrom locations remote to a merchant site, this information may also beavailable for viewing at the merchant site (e.g., useful in comparingoutfits during a fitting process, or at a later date), or at or inconjunction with other merchant sites. For instance, where severalrelated merchants (e.g., by affiliation, location, product type) provideelectronic access as described herein, the customer-customized nonverbalinformation for two or more of those merchants may be jointly displayedor linked. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope ofthe following claims.

1. A method comprising: obtaining a first image of a first item ofmerchandise that is available from a first merchant as physicallyarranged according to a consumer at a physical location having the firstitem; obtaining a second image of a second item of merchandise that isavailable from a second merchant as physically arranged according to theconsumer at a physical location having the second item; storing, by amerchant computer system, the first image and second image in a datarecord associated with a password specified by the consumer to enableselective access to the data record; authenticating, by the merchantcomputer system, a remote device to access the data record based atleast in part upon receiving the password from the remote device; andcommunicating, by the merchant computer system, the data recordincluding the first image in conjunction with the second image to theremote device over a network.
 2. The method of claim 1 whereincommunicating the data record including the first image in conjunctionwith the second image comprises sending a web page to a browser of theremote device, the web page configured to enable access to the firstimage and the second image.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprisingreceiving feedback from a party that accesses the first image or thesecond image via the remote device.
 4. The method of claim 3 whereinreceiving the feedback includes receiving authorization for purchase ofthe first item of merchandise or the second item of merchandise.
 5. Themethod of claim 3 wherein receiving the feedback includes receiving arecommendation for purchase.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein obtainingthe first image of the first item includes obtaining the first image ofthe first item of merchandise as arranged by the consumer at amerchant's physical premises.
 7. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: receiving input from the consumer to direct physicalarrangement of the first item of merchandise at the merchant's physicalpremises.
 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising capturing thefirst image of the first item of merchandise as physically arranged bythe consumer.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the first imageincludes obtaining one or more still photos of the first item ofmerchandise.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the first imageincludes obtaining a video clip of the first item of merchandise. 11.The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the first image of the firstitem of merchandise includes obtaining the first image that reflects atleast one clothing garment as arranged by the consumer.
 12. One or morecomputer-readable memories storing instructions that, responsive tobeing executed by one or more devices of a merchant computing system,cause the one or more devices of the merchant computer system to performoperations comprising: creating a data record secured by identifyinginformation specified by a consumer; storing, in the data record, afirst image of a first item of merchandise as physically arranged at aphysical location having the first item according to the consumer inconjunction with a second image of a second item of merchandise asphysically arranged according to the consumer at a physical locationhaving the second item; authenticating a remote device to access thedata record responsive to receiving the identifying information from theremote device; and communicating the data record including the firstimage in conjunction with the second image to the remote device over anetwork.
 13. One or more computer-readable memories of claim 12 whereincommunicating the first image in conjunction with the second imageincludes sending a web page to a browser of the remote device, the webpage configured to enable access to the first image and the secondimage.
 14. One or more computer-readable memories of claim 12 whereinthe operations caused by the instructions further comprise receivingfeedback from a party that accesses the first image or the second image.15. One or more computer-readable memories of claim 14 wherein thefeedback includes authorization for purchase of the first item ofmerchandise or the second item of merchandise.
 16. One or morecomputer-readable memories of claim 14 wherein the feedback includes arecommendation for purchase.
 17. One or more computer-readable memoriesof claim 12 wherein the operations caused by the instructions furthercomprise outputting a user interface to enable input from the consumerto direct physical arrangement of the first item of merchandise at amerchant's physical premises.
 18. One or more computer-readable memoriesof claim 17 wherein the operations caused by the instructions furthercomprise receiving, via the user interface, the input from the consumerto direct physical arrangement of the first item of merchandise at themerchant's physical premises.
 19. One or more computer-readable memoriesof claim 18 wherein the operations caused by the instructions furthercomprise capturing the first image of the first item of merchandise asphysically arranged by the consumer.
 20. One or more computer-readablememories of claim 12 wherein the first image includes one or more stillphotos.
 21. One or more computer-readable memories of claim 12 whereinthe first image includes a video clip.
 22. One or more computer-readablememories of claim 12 wherein the first item of merchandise includes atleast one clothing garment and the first image reflects the clothing asarranged by the consumer.
 23. An apparatus comprising: a computingdevice; computer readable memory; and computer instructions embodied onthe computer readable memory and executable via the computing device to:capture a first image of a first item of merchandise that is availablefrom a first merchant as physically arranged according to a consumer ata physical location having the first item; capture a second image of asecond item of merchandise that is available from a second merchant asphysically arranged according to the consumer at a physical locationhaving the second item; create a webpage configured to display the firstimage in conjunction with the second image; secure the webpage usingidentifying information selected by the consumer; and output the webpageconfigured to display the first image in conjunction with the secondimage to enable viewing at a remote device over a network responsive toauthenticating the remote device based on the identifying information.24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the first image includes one ormore still photos.
 25. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the first imageincludes a video clip.
 26. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein thecomputer instructions further comprise instructions executable via thecomputing device to: collect feedback input at the remote deviceresponsive to output of the webpage; and communicate the feedback to theconsumer.
 27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the feedback comprises arecommendation regarding purchase of the first item or the second item.28. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the feedback comprises anauthorization to purchase the first item or the second item.
 29. Theapparatus of claim 23 wherein the computer instructions further compriseinstructions executable via the computing device to: requestauthorization, from a remote party that accesses the webpage via theremote device, to purchase one of said items of merchandise; andautomatically complete a purchase transaction for one of said items ofmerchandise when authorization is received.
 30. The apparatus of claim23, wherein the identifying information comprises an email address. 31.The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the identifying information comprisesa password selected by the consumer.